Monday, June 15

Japanese tree lilac

At this time of the year, my walks to and from the park are distracted by these two mature Japanese tree lilacs — Syringa reticulata — in bloom. The pervasive fragrance of the showy flowers is to me quite pleasant, an opinion not apparently shared by everyone. One person described it as vaguely fishy but — as another commenter there pointed out — it is musky, not muskie.